


Easy Love

by BooksandKpop



Series: SF9 College AU [4]
Category: SF9 (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, M/M, Mentions of alcohol, Mutual Pining, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Post-Its Universe, Unbeta'd, he is so blind why did i do this to him, i made hwiyoung into such an angsty baby i feel really bad, i'm so sorry i wanted this to be fluffy, mom rowoon and dad youngbin to the rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-28
Updated: 2018-02-09
Packaged: 2019-01-06 13:11:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12211953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BooksandKpop/pseuds/BooksandKpop
Summary: Kim Youngkyun did not believe in love at first sight. Until he meets Yoo Taeyang. And suddenly he's not so sure anymore.But it's wrong to be in love with your best friend...isn't it?





	1. How not to tell your oldest friend you love your roommate

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe how sad and angsty this turned out like this was not what I had in mind when I first set out to write this. It was supposed to be a fluffy mutual pining one-shot...I wish I could tell you what happened.
> 
> Anyway, please take care of my son he is a little oblivious and a typical angsty teen. 
> 
> (Jeno is only v briefly mentioned in one chapter but I felt like I had to tag him anyway, sorry.)

Kim Youngkyun did not believe in love at first sight. It was just something made up by film and tv writers to allow for the instant beginnings of a relationship between two characters. Call him a cynic, and his oldest friend Baek Juho certainly did, but he was not about to go around thinking it was possible to see someone for the first time and hear violins playing or see stars twinkling around their head. So he scoffed at rom-coms and laughed when people cited it as how they knew their partner was “the one”, and he would proudly tell anyone who listened how ridiculous he thought it was. To put it simply; the sky is blue, water is wet, Juho is the most handsome guy he knows, and Youngkyun did not believe in love at first sight.

Until he met Yoo Taeyang. And suddenly he wasn’t certain of his own convictions anymore. 

Sure the sky was still blue and water was still wet, at least most of the time in his experience, but his last two certainties were being called into question. Because this Seokwoo guy was more handsome than Juho, just by the slightest of margins, and when he saw Taeyang for the first time he heard music playing and his head was spinning and he found it hard to breathe. If he were to really think about it, he would have realised the music was coming from Youngbin’s speakers just behind him, and the ball that was kicked at his head was probably the cause of his shortness of breath and head trauma. But in that moment where he was falling to the ground thanks to the force of the football hitting the back of his head, he was sure that Yoo Taeyang was sunshine personified and he was in love. He tried to deny ever thinking such things at first, only to no avail, because Taeyang was the first one there to help him up and ask if he was ok, and there were butterflies in his stomach that he had no explanation for unless he blamed it on his head trauma. 

It might not have been such a big deal in any other situation, if Taeyang was just some random stranger who he met on one occasion, and would have had ample time to get over him and recollect his thoughts. Except that was not the case because the “cold-city duo” was now a sextet, incorporating Youngbin and Chanhee the “brother-from-another-mother” pair and the heavenly vocals that were Seokwoo and Taeyang. Youngkyun was not opposed to having more friends, in fact, he rather enjoyed Chanhee’s evil tendencies and ability to make fun of everyone in the group, and Youngbin’s dad like presence which kept them all in check most of the time. And there was no way he could deny he greatly appreciated Seokwoo’s MasterChef cooking abilities which made him sigh with bliss over group dinners. It was merely the presence of Taeyang that was throwing his life off balance. Because Taeyang sat beside him in class and made it hard to focus on lessons, and his laugh made Youngkyun’s stomach flip and his heart flutter. But the worst part was, he felt himself falling more for him every time he learnt something new about him, and as their friendship grew, so did Youngkyun’s pining.

The older members of the group moved on to university, and while they still made time for the younger three, it wasn’t the same. Youngkyun now had no one to bounce off when he felt himself getting nervous around Taeyang. Juho had acted like his buffer when he was lost for words and shrunk in on himself, making sure to fill in his silences and protected him like he had always done. Youngbin had been the perfect person to turn to when his awkwardness was reaching its peak, always accepting cuddles and knew exactly what to do to ease the tension. Now there was just Chanhee left, and while they were very close, he was not capable of saving Youngkyun from himself.

Finally after their last year in school was over, and they were moving on to university with the rest of their friends, Youngkyun thought he might escape from the burning ache he felt in his heart from seeing Taeyang every day, knowing he didn’t feel the same. They were doing different courses entirely, their buildings were completely separate and everything. He could meet new people and perhaps learn to get over his first love. Of course, that never happened, since it only made sense for the three same-aged friends to get an apartment together, saving on living costs and not having to worry about roommates who might clash with their personalities. Youngkyun could have said no, come up with an excuse about wanting to get out of his shell and meet new people, but he would never do that. Call it selfish or even stupid, but Youngkyun didn’t really want to be separated from Taeyang. There was a warmth in his presence and comfort in knowing where he was and making sure he was eating and sleeping well. Staying so close was not going to help his heart to move on, but Youngkyun couldn’t help but feel the smallest bit of hope that maybe someday, Taeyang would finally see him in the same light.

The thing about loving someone for so long and believing it to be unrequited is that you become blind to changes in their behaviour. Youngkyun had spent 5 years of his life hopelessly crushing on his close friend, and so when Taeyang started to be more affectionate towards him, he simply put it down to their friendship getting stronger. He wrote off the constant skinship as Taeyang being comfortable around him and cursed his heart for hoping it meant more. Youngkyun was certain he had hidden his true feelings for Taeyang from his group of friends, surely Juho would have said something to him otherwise since he knew him so well. That illusion went out the window though, after one particularly excessive night out with his classmates. 

He woke up in Juho’s apartment at 1 in the afternoon, with a splitting headache and a disgusting taste in his mouth. He had stumbled into his oldest friends kitchenette to find him cuddled up with Seokwoo drinking coffee. The sight of his two friends together made his heart wrench, knowing that was something he could never have with Taeyang. He sighed, knowing he had to continue to pretend he had nothing but platonic affection for Taeyang, and the couple looked up at him. Originally he thought the pitying smile on Seokwoo’s face was for the awful hangover he had, and he was too tired to try to decipher the look Juho was giving him. After they gave him a mug of black coffee - obviously cheap stuff from the supermarket, it was too bitter for his refined barista taste buds, they sat him down and the questioning started.

“Soooo, do you remember anything from your night? About how you got here or the things you said?”

Seokwoo was playing the responsible mom role, looking at him with concern in his eyes when he shook his head and said he didn’t remember much after doing a round of shots at the bar with a few people from his course.

“Shots!? Dude, you hate spirits what were you thinking? It really isn’t like you to drink so much that you don’t remember your night.”

“Yeah it’s very out of character for your Kyunnie, you’ve been out with your course friends before and took very good care of yourself. Did something happen that made you want to drink to forget?”

He was expecting this honestly - if it had been Youngbin who he went to it would have been a whole lot worse. But it was the last question from Seokwoo that sent up warning flags in Youngkyun’s head. It was loaded with an underlying emotion that he couldn’t pinpoint exactly, but he got the feeling it would be dangerous to answer. The truth was, he originally hadn’t planned to go on the class night out, preferring to stay in and watch a movie and eat junk food. But that morning as he was walking out of his 9 am Criminology lecture, he had seen Taeyang surrounded by four really pretty girls, laughing and looking so happy. Youngkyun had felt a twist in his gut. Of course Taeyang was happy with all those girls paying attention to him, there was no way he could ever look that happy with Youngkyun around him. There was a dark voice in his head berating him, making him feel small and stupid for loving one of his friends when there was no chance of him ever feeling the same. So he quickly found Lee Jeno, the guy from his class who was organising their night out- and looked better in bleach blonde than he did- and told him he wanted to go with them. 

Of course, he couldn’t tell his friends his reasoning, they would worry far too much and as much as it hurt him, Youngkyun didn’t want anyone to know about his feelings for Taeyang still. He didn’t want them to tell him that he should try move on, the selfish part of himself wanted to keep holding on despite all the pain it caused him. While he was lost in his own memories, he didn’t notice Seokwoo and Juho sharing a knowing look.

“Kyunnie, you really don’t remember what you said to us when you got here?”

The tone Seokwoo used was disconcerting, it was sickeningly sweet and yet laced with worry too. It made Youngkyun feel more than a little dread in his stomach wondering what he could have said to make them talk like this. He shook his head very slowly, and Juho sighed before moving to sit beside him and put an arm around his shoulders. Seokwoo leaned back a little, knowing this was something Juho was in a better position to deal with since he had known Youngkyun for so much longer. 

“Listen Hwi, we’ve known each other for so long yeah? And you know I promised I’ll always look after you, so you can trust me and tell me when things are bothering you. I don’t want to have to wake up at 1 am to Jaeyoon frantically buzzing our bell because you were so drunk you couldn’t even remember your name and he didn’t know what else to do with you.”

Youngkyun felt a shameful blush spread across his cheeks, he didn’t realise he had been that bad - although the headache he woke up with should have been an indication. His original intentions when he went out with his classmates was just to drink enough to give him a gentle tipsy buzz, and hoping he might let loose enough to get close to someone else there. He wouldn’t deny there were plenty of cute guys in his class, surely one of them could help him get over his useless love for Taeyang. But after two shots he went straight from sober to drunk and was no longer able to remember what happened. Probably the only reason he had been stopped before he passed out was Jaeyoon discovering him and being responsible enough to get him out of the bar.

He realised he hadn’t answered any of Juho or Seokwoo’s questions and instead was lost in his own mind. There was nothing he could do to fix his drunken mistakes, but he needed to know what they were so he could deal with them.

“I’m really sorry that I caused you two and Jaeyoon-hyung such an inconvenience. I didn’t really mean to get so drunk but I must have lost control. Law students can be very persuasive you know? But I am really sorry, I don’t remember anything I said or did last night. Was it bad?”

Youngkyun asked the last part very hesitantly, he needed to know what happened but at the same time, he wasn’t sure he wanted to. The conflict must have been clear on his face because Seokwoo sighed again and got up off the floor. He walked into his and Juho’s shared bedroom and shut the door behind him. Youngkyun was confused now, and he looked to his left to see Juho staring at him. He hadn’t seen this much concern since the first day they met, and the older male had protected him from bullies in school. 

“You were spouting all sorts of nonsense at first when Jaeyoon- hyung brought you in, law terms and other stuff I didn’t understand. I made up the bed on the floor but you just wouldn’t lie down, you started talking about how Chanhee was going to miss you when he woke up this morning and then kept trying to leave. Then after I said we would text him and Taeyang to tell them where you were, you just burst into tears. Hwi - why didn’t you tell me before that you liked him?”

There it was, Youngkyun felt his breath hitch and he started to panic. He had obviously told Juho, and indirectly Seokwoo, about his feelings for Taeyang. He felt a lump form in his throat and just buried his head in his lap. This was probably the second worst thing he could have done, the first being telling Taeyang himself how he felt. Juho wrapped his arms around his younger friends middle and pulled him up into his own lap. Youngkyun was in tears now, sobbing into his tall friend's shoulder. He was very glad Seokwoo left because this was embarrassing enough without another witness. Juho was the only one who he fully broke down his walls for, and he was so grateful he had a friend like this. He heard the deep voice murmuring calming words into his ear as he rubbed gentle circles on his back. Juho knew just what to do to calm him down when he got like this, and after a few short minutes, Youngkyun felt like he would be able to talk again.

“Hyung - I’m really messed up aren’t I? I’ve been in love with Taeyang for so long and I’ve never been able to say anything. Every day it hurts seeing him, being so close but knowing I can never be like you and Seokwoo-hyung, or even Youngbin-hyung and Inseong-hyung. He doesn’t like me back, not in the way I want him too, and I just - I don’t know how to get over him.”

His voice cracked a few times, and he had to keep stopping to take deep breaths, but his confession was finally out there. His hyung knew, and now all he could do was wait to see what he would say.

“You’re such a dummy, you do know that right?”

That wasn’t what Youngkyun had been expecting. He looked up to meet Juho’s eyes and he was smiling sadly. Shrugging his shoulders, he wasn’t sure how to reply to that. His friend rolled his eyes and squeezed him a little tighter to his chest.

“You really had no reason to keep this from me, or any of the group really. We weren’t going to be mad or judge you or anything. I mean, Seokwoo and I were friends before we started dating, there’s nothing wrong with that at all. All I’m curious about is why you think Taeyang doesn’t feel the same way you do?”

Youngkyun blinked rapidly at the unexpected question. He thought he would have gotten some comforting words, advice on what to do or even just be told to try move on. But Juho had surprised him, why would he ask such a thing? Of course Taeyang didn’t feel the same, he liked girls who were small and pretty and good dancers, he laughed and always looked so comfortable talking to them. He voiced all this to his friend, finally feeling more confident talking about it now he didn’t have to hide anymore.

“Just because Taeyang is friends with a lot of girls doesn’t mean he likes any of them, it also doesn’t mean he can’t like you too. Now I will admit I have never seen him when he is with those groups, but I do know that whenever he is with you his smile is brighter than the actual sun. And I mean, he is always putting his hand on your arm or resting his head on your shoulder. You guys are so comfortable together, Seokwoo actually thought you two were dating before last night, and most of the others agreed.”

The younger’s head shot straight up, and he almost choked on his own spit at that. Most of his friends thought he was dating Taeyang? How was that possible? Sure they were pretty close and cuddly, but that was just Taeyang being his normal friendly self. Had his crush been so glaringly obvious that the whole group had picked up on it? If so, did that mean Taeyang knew about his feelings too?  
“Dude calm down, I don’t want you dying on me right now. Before you ask, and I’m sure you want to, it’s only the older members who discussed it. Chanhee and Taeyang weren’t part of it, you were all doing some first-year orientation thing when the rest of us met up for coffee.”

Youngkyun felt relieved at that, Taeyang knowing would be the worst possible outcome, but if Chanhee knew his life would be a living hell. He settled his head back into his friend's shoulder. The fact they all knew about his feelings in some way lifted a bit of the weight off his heart. Obviously, he wouldn’t just go to any of the others to just casually talk to about this, but since they knew maybe he could start acting a little more normal around them now. He promised that he would tell Juho everything from start to finish, and would come to him about any new things. But the positive reaction he got made him feel a little more hopeful about everything. Surely if six of his friends thought he was dating Taeyang, then there must be something going on he wasn’t seeing.

Much happier than he had been for a long time, Youngkyun got up off Juho’s lap and stretched out. He went and released Seokwoo from his self-imposed solitude and gave him a big hug. Slightly shocked, Seokwoo hesitated to hug him back at first, but as the good mom friend, he smothered the younger in affection once the situation was cleared up. The shortest of the three friends went to shower, he wanted to scrub away all of last nights bad memories, this was going to be his fresh start. With the support of his hyungs, he would either work up the courage to confess or at least get on the road to moving on.


	2. How not to deal with a group hug from your friends while your roommate/crush watches

Turns out, Youngkyun is not good at the whole confessing thing, he’s not good at any type of confrontation period. 

After he showered that Saturday morning and had a proper lunch with his friends, he headed back to his own apartment. Chanhee was lazing about in the living room half-watching reruns of old tv shows. When Youngkyun walked in, the dark-haired boy looked up from his spot on the couch and just nodded in acknowledgement. That was all the reaction Youngkyun was going to get for the moment. If he wanted anything more from his friend he would have to go sit with him. So that’s what the blonde did. He flopped face first down onto the couch, landing on his friend's stomach and causing him to jolt upwards and start complaining.

“Ya, Youngkyun, just because you had a rough night doesn’t give you an excuse to headbutt me for attention. You’re not really a cat, no matter how much we say you look like one.”

So Chanhee at least knew something about his night out, which was a starting point. Youngkyun chose to ignore his shorter friends protests and tucked himself right into his side to cuddle him. Despite what some of their other friends might think, the younger pair were very close and had no problems lying together to watch a film or new drama. 

“You want to know what I know about last night then hmm? Honestly, not much - and I don’t know if you’re relieved or troubled by that. I met Moonbin for coffee this morning, he said Minhyuk was out with you guys too. So I know about your insistence on doing shots, and that Jaeyoon-hyung finished his shift early to drag your drunk ass home.”

Youngkyun whined and buried his face further into Chanhee’s middle. That was pretty much all he knew about the night too, he had been hoping to maybe get a hint at how he acted after he was wasted. Now his only options were to ask one of his classmates, which could be awkward since he wasn’t really close to them, or else ask Jaeyoon - and he already knew that wouldn’t go very well. He would be lucky if he made it through the day without Youngbin coming to find him and give him a lecture on being responsible with his alcohol like any good dad friend would. Chanhee obviously sensed his distress and started playing with his hair to calm him down. Youngkyun fell asleep like that, curled up in his friend’s lap stressing about what he could have said while drunk, especially since he poured his soul out to Juho when he got back to his apartment afterwards.

He woke up in his room, lying on top of the covers of his bed. Slightly disoriented he stumbled back out into the living room, it was getting dark now and checking the time it seemed he had slept for two hours. Chanhee wouldn’t have bothered trying to move him if he got up, so the only viable explanation was Taeyang. Exactly as he suspected, the reason for all his troubles was in the kitchen cooking something for dinner, and it smelled suspiciously like Youngkyun’s favourite food. He was tempted to try to slip out of the apartment before Taeyang could notice, but as if he sensed his thoughts, the boy in question turned around and spotted him.

“Hey you’re awake! Chanhee told me you had a rough time last night.”

Of course he had, but at least Youngkyun could be guaranteed that the youngest of the three would not have given too much away. He just meekly nodded instead and shuffled into the kitchen with his head down. Taeyang giggled at his behaviour and moved around the island to put an arm around the shorter one’s shoulders. This kind of skinship was normal between the two of them, but now Youngkyun couldn’t help feel differently. If what Juho had said was true, and all his friends thought they were dating in secret, then surely Taeyang must have shown some sort of interest in him that he just hadn’t picked up on. So then, was this just casual skinship or did he have other motives. Youngkyun knew what he hoped was true, but didn’t really want to get his hopes up.

The pair moved back into the kitchen, Taeyang was chatting away about his day like he always did but kept his arm around Youngkyun’s shoulders. They finished preparing dinner for three - Chanhee had just gone to meet up with Youngbin for a short while and would be back to eat with them. It was comfortable, just making pointless small talk as they set the table and tidied up a little. To Youngkyun, it felt as if nothing had really changed except his own acceptance of his feelings, which actually made quite a difference. He would let himself love his friend, quietly for now, but with the intentions of telling him the truth. 

After a while there was nothing left for them to do while they waited for Chanhee to come back, so Taeyang suggested they just start eating by themselves and leave their other roommates in the oven to keep warm. As the two blonde boys sat down to eat, the air felt heavy with unspoken words. Youngkyun could sense his friend wanted to ask about last night but was refraining so he wouldn’t be uncomfortable. Even such a small thing made the younger’s heart speed up slightly, Taeyang was so sweet and considerate in everything he did. Just as Youngkyun had made up his mind to break the silence and tell the taller boy about his night out, their front door flew open and banged loudly against the wall.

“KIM YOUNGKYUN I SWEAR YOU BETTER BE HERE OR I WILL FLIP A TABLE.”

His life was flashing before his eyes, nothing could be scarier than Youngbin when he was really mad. Although Youngkyun knew in the back of his mind that his older friend wasn’t actually angry with him, he was definitely upset and that made the younger feel worse. Taeyang looked at him sympathetically before urging him to go out and face Youngbin before he actually did toss something. Reluctantly, Youngkyun called out that he was here, and creeped out towards the hall. After catching sight of their “leader”, the younger felt infinitely worse than he had before. 

Youngbin was in shorts and a loose basketball top, his hair was swept back from his face by a cap and his cheeks were coloured a light pink. He had very obviously run from wherever he was to their apartment, evident from the light sheen of sweat on his forehead. When he spotted Youngkyun standing there with his shoulders hunched slightly, he immediately moved towards him. Three long strides later, and Youngkyun was enveloped by the older boys muscular arms in a crushing hug. They were roughly the same height, but Youngkyun felt so small in that moment, so he felt his tears were totally justified. There was just something about Youngbin, he had an aura around him that made everyone feel like they could trust him with all their secrets - if Seokwoo hadn’t been such a nurturing presence back when they first met, Youngbin could have secured the mom role in their group, but “dad-friend” suited him much better. There was no judgement from him as the younger blonde boy sobbed into his shoulder, he just held him tightly and they rocked back and forth where they stood.

“Hy-hyung, I’m so-ory. I didn’t mean to make you guys wo-orry about me.”

He didn’t know why he was crying. Everything was fine - he finally had confided in Juho about his crush, Chanhee wasn’t aware of the situation, and he had just spent a solid 45 minutes with Taeyang enjoying his company and nothing happened. So why was he crying like a baby and clinging to Youngbin like an anchor? Maybe it was because nothing had happened between him and Taeyang, maybe despite his efforts, his hopes had been raised that something was going to change. Or maybe he was just exhausted - from both his night previous and from holding back five years of emotion that he had finally come to terms with. Whatever the reason, he felt so exposed crying like this, Taeyang was just ten feet away in the kitchen hearing his obnoxiously loud sobs. But he couldn’t get the tears to stop, not when Youngbin was holding him so carefully and whispering soothing words into his ear and rubbing circles on his back. Youngkyun wanted nothing more than a chance to be held like this by Taeyang, but he felt any hope he may have gotten from earlier drain away as his tears continued to flow. 

At some point, maybe it was only after a minute or it could have been ten, Chanhee arrived back at their apartment with Inseong and Jaeyoon in tow. Youngkyun finally found the energy to lift his head from Youngbin’s shoulder, he had left a damp patch on his shirt but he was too exhausted to care. Inseong took one look at his puffy red eyes and made a sound like a wounded cat before rushing over and wrapping his arms around the younger boy too. Jaeyoon would never want to be left out of a group hug and quickly came over to join them. Chanhee just stood in the hallway looking at them, the three oldest in their group hugging their second youngest, maybe it was a slight twinge of jealousy but he made his way over to the group also.

“Yah, he’s my best friend I should be the one hugging him. Let me in.”

And so the blonde was enclosed in the centre of a clingy group cuddle, one sweaty dad-friend and his tall dorky boyfriend, one loud ball of energy, and his shortest best friend - who made it seem like he didn’t want to be there but still hugged Youngkyun just as tight. The tears were back in full force with how loved he felt in that moment, his older friends were most definitely upset with him but they were far more worried about how he was feeling. Maybe Juho had told them about his drunken confession and this was their way of showing support. Whatever it was, Youngkyun was glad, but there was still one person in the room who he wanted to hug and comfort him the most. He must have made some sort of noise or movement, because Chanhee suddenly yelled and pulled their huddle of limbs apart, not-so-gently pushing Youngkyun in Taeyang’s direction. The younger blonde stumbled and as if on instinct, a pair of toned arms came up to catch him by his waist. Youngkyun looked up quickly only to immediately wish he hadn’t. Taeyang was watching him with such deep concern in his eyes that the younger boy felt his heart ache even more. 

“You ok there Kyunnie? You’ve really had a rough weekend huh?”

That was it, no direct question of why he had been brokenly sobbing into the shoulder of their eldest friend, no pretending he hadn’t seen everything that had just happened. It was just a gentle acceptance, almost like Taeyang was reassuring him that he would wait until Youngkyun was ready to tell him what happened on his own time. And that made the younger burst into tears once more, because all the trust that was there meant so much to him that he couldn’t break it by telling the elder how he really felt.

 

So much for confessing.


	3. How to confess your love for your best friend of five years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Confessing to anyone was the hardest thing you could do, laying out your feelings for the world to see without knowing how the other would respond. 
> 
> It was even harder when the one you loved was your best friend.

They sat in a secluded corner of the coffee shop, cups steaming on the table in front of them. Seokwoo had also bought a croissant, one of the ones they filled with almond butter. It looked amazing but the younger of the two couldn't even think about eating right now. His stomach was knotted with nerves, he even felt his palms getting sweaty just thinking about what he was going to do later. Seokwoo placed a hand on his knee, it had been bouncing restlessly under the table - one of his twitches. No one had ever noticed, apart from Seokwoo and - him. Of course he had noticed, he seemed to always pick up on every little thing. Or maybe not, if what Seokwoo had told him was true. 

"Your coffee is going to go cold if you just leave it sitting there you know."

The blonde looked at his taller friend and he was smiling back at him gently. He would know how the younger boy felt he supposed. Before Seokwoo and Juho had gotten together they both acted like this, nervous and trying to avoid each other in case they accidentally blurted out feelings. It worked out for them though, so well in fact that they had been nominated for "couple of the year" on campus. It was funny really, how best friends could make such great boyfriends. If only it was guaranteed that his own situation would turn out the same. Nothing was certain though, there was every possibility that his own best friend whom he had been pining after for years wouldn't return his affections.

"You're over-thinking this - again. I've already told you, and Juho and Youngbin and Inseong have all told you as well, he likes you too."

"But what if he just likes me? What if when he looks at me he sees just a friend?"

"You claim to be perceptive and yet you've been completely blind to every signal the boy has been sending you for what - 5 years now?"

"I don't just like him though hyung. He means the world to me, when he's sad it feels like there's a weight crushing my chest and when he laughs it's like air and sunshine itself. But he is my best friend. Confessing isn't something that can be done lightly, especially not when I risk losing him."

"Wow, dramatic much?"

"Hyung! I'm serious, I lo-"

The shorter boy cut himself off before he could finish what he was about to say. He wanted to save the first time he said those words for his confession. It would be more meaningful. Call him a sappy romantic but he selfishly wanted to give those words only to the other blonde. His best friend and roommate whom he had known for five years and loved from that very first moment."

"Yeah yeah, we are all very well aware of how you feel about him. In fact sometimes you're so obviously biased towards him that I am surprised he never noticed himself. But it seems you're both as oblivious as one another. A perfect couple for sure."

Seokwoo was laughing now. He was so confident that the confession would be a success. All of his older friends claimed the same, but how could they really know? They couldn't, there was no way. Not unless the other boy had told them how he felt. 

It was so nerve-wracking just waiting around for things to happen. If the blonde had his way he would just march home right now and spill his years worth of feelings to his best friend, finesse be-damned. But he didn't want that either, the other boy deserved so much more than just three blurted words on the spur of the moment. That's why he had set up this whole thing, enlisting the help of all his friends to make sure it was perfect. No matter what the outcome was, if the other returned his feelings or not, it wouldn't be from lack of trying. 

He had flair, it came from being a natural performer he supposed. 

Hopefully though, the younger would appreciate his gestures. If he didn't return his feelings it would be the most awkward thing in the world. Even more than the time Lisa had asked him out on a date at the start of the year and he had to officially come out in front of the whole dance troupe. If the other did feel the same though, it would be the most romantic getting together in their group so far. Youngbin and Inseong just kind of happened, once they got over the whole "I've never met him before" thing they had for a while. And everyone assumed Seokwoo and Juho were together anyway, although the way the tallest of his friends tells the story you would swear it was straight out of a fairytale or something. 

But no, his confession would top all of theirs. It was over-the-top for sure, but he had to show his best friend that this was five years coming. And this was the best way he knew how - with a song and a dance. Sanghyuk even promised to record it for him and play the audio over the radio next week, providing it was a happy ending of course.

"Ok now I'm sure your coffee has gone cold. You should have just gotten an iced one if you weren't going to drink it here."

"I can't eat or drink anything, I'm afraid I might throw up."

"You'll be fine, this can't be much more frightening than your audition for the dance team can it?"

"Hyung it's about a million times worse. If I had failed that at least I could still dance by myself. If this doesn't work out then I risk losing my best friend. Not to mention embarrassing myself in front of half the campus."

"Relax, he is going to say yes. I'm sure of it."

"I hope you're right hyung, I don't think I could live without him in my life."

Just then the door to the café swung open and a head of blood red hair came into view. He was followed by a mop of curls and as they rounded the corner to their booth the youngest felt his heart clench tighter. If they were here, that meant everything was ready. All that was left to do was go through with it.

"There you guys are! We are all set on our end, Jaeyoon-hyung is just gathering a crowd."

Juho leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on top of his boyfriends head in greeting, and Sanghyuk was bouncing enthusiastically up and down on the balls of his feet. The blonde stood up and straightened out his shirt. It was a good thing he hadn't drank the coffee, he felt jittery enough as it was. He was about to go and face the love of his life and spill five years worth of feelings to him. Sanghyuk grinned as he took his hand and made to lead them outside, but before they could get too far Juho caught his arm.

"You sure you're ready to do this? Promise me you're not going to bail. Youngkyun deserves the best."

"Don't worry Juho-hyung, I'm ready to give him the world."

The redhead nodded and let him go, and with that Taeyang followed his other friend out of the shop and prepared himself to confess.

***

"You're really not going to tell me why I had to get so dressed up on my day off?"

Chanhee shook his head and just walked over to where Youngbin was consulting Youngkyun's minimal choice of jackets. Inseong grabbed his chin and pulled him to face him again so he could finish the makeup he was putting on him. It was more than he would wear on a normal day, even more than he would wear for events. Inseong was skilled with a brush, although Jaeyoon was probably even better. The blonde had no idea where his hyper friend was, in fact the whole day so far had been extremely suspicious. 

First Chanhee woke him up early and dragged him out to the kitchen where Inseong and Youngbin were preparing pancakes for breakfast. Taeyang was nowhere to be found, which hurt more than Youngkyun cared to admit. After breakfast they herded him into the bathroom and told him to take a shower and wash up properly, and when he was finished he went into his bedroom to find the older two pulling apart his wardrobe. Chanhee was just sitting on his bed as if this was normal, but the blonde knew for sure it was a weird day.

Then after Youngbin had finished dressing him up and with approval from Chanhee, Inseong had started on his makeup. In the meantime though, none of them would tell him what was happening or where he was supposed to be going. And to top it all off, their group chat was silent. Of all the things that were strange, that was the most off-putting. The chat was never static for more than an hour at most, and yet in the three hours since he had been so rudely woken up there was not a sign of life in it. Juho wouldn't even respond to his private messages.

After what felt like an eternity and about twenty layers of makeup, Inseong pulled away with a satisfied shout. He spun the younger boy around on the swivel chair to show off his handiwork. Youngbin whistled and even Chanhee made a noise of approval. Youngkyun scowled and stuck his tongue out at the youngest of them, only to earn a scolding from Inseong about "ruining his lipgloss". Chanhee laughed and Youngbin just smiled lovingly at his boyfriend. They really could be sickeningly sweet sometimes.

With a bit of prodding, they got Youngkyun over to the full-length mirror in the room and he looked himself over. He did have to admit, they had done a great job making him look good. Even though it had taken Inseong an hour to do his makeup, it didn't look overly heavy. In fact, the grey smokey eyeshadow made his cat-like eyes stand out even more, and the gold highlighter really accentuated his face structure. And somehow, the little bit of pink on his lips made them look fuller and pulled everything together. Coupled with the clothes Youngbin had chosen for him, the blonde had to admire his friend's handiwork. Chanhee decided then to break his self-imposed silence since breakfast.

"Ok so you have had ample time to admire how hot you are Hwi, let's go."

He had a blank look on his face, but Youngkyun still appreciated the comment. He smiled softly at his friend and indicated that he lead the way. The four of them made their way out of the apartment and Chanhee lead them towards the university green. Inseong and Youngbin were chatting away, occasionally asking questions about classes or projects but they still refused to share what the purpose of all this was. Youngkyun just hoped whatever it was wouldn't take too long, he was getting hungry again.

When they got within view of the green, Youngkyun saw a decent crowd gathered in the centre, and there was someone running between the various groups standing around.

"Is that - Jaeyoon hyung?"

He must have raised his voice without noticing, either that or their sunshine friend had supersonic hearing. Whichever it was, he turned towards them as they were walking up to the green and started waving his arms like wild. As if they wouldn't be able to recognise his honey skin and bright smile in a crowd ten times this size. Inseong laughed and waved back to show they saw him. Jaeyoon gave a thumbs up and pulled his phone out of his back pocket and rapidly sent a text to someone. 

When they reached him he grabbed Youngkyun by the shoulders and inspected his clothes and makeup. Seemingly satisfied he gave a curt nod and broke out into a massive grin. He put an arm around the blonde boy's shoulders and started leading him through the crowd to the centre of the green. Youngkyun turned back to look for help from the other three, but they just waved to him and Chanhee grinned. 

There was just a sole chair sitting in the very centre of the grass and there were speakers set up around the perimeter of a small circle, created by people. Jaeyoon lead him over to the chair and pushed him into a seated position. When Youngkyun went to protest he was met with a stern look that made him immediately shut his mouth. The other people, students he assumed, were looking at him curiously. Some smiled when they caught sight of his confused expression and others cheered lightly. He even saw Jeno, Minhyuk and a couple other of his classmates, and they gave him big grins and thumbs up when he met their eyes. This was even more strange than the rest of the morning up to that point, and Youngkyun really just wanted to know what was going on. 

Before he could ask anyone, music started playing from the speakers giving him a shock. People started looking around as if they knew what to expect, just not where it was going to come from. He turned his head to look around himself, but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary - or more so than this whole thing already was. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the crowds to his left shuffling around and parting slightly, so he directed his attention over there. And then he felt like someone had punched him in the gut and knocked all the air from his lungs.

Taeyang made his way through the crowd, straight towards where Youngkyun was sitting. He was dressed in a plain white shirt and black ripped jeans that showed off his incredible lean figure. Youngkyun had to shut his jaw, his best friend looked ethereal with the sun reflecting off his skin and lighting up his blonde hair like it was a halo. He had no idea why he was here, but maybe he would tell him what was going on. Just as Taeyang made it past the wall of students and into the circle, the music changed and he started to move.

Youngkyun felt so exposed sitting here in the centre of this circle of people watching Taeyang dance. He had always admired his skills, going to every recital and competition as an avid supporter, but this was something different. The way he moved his hips to the beat was mesmerising, it was more than just another routine. His eyes never left Youngkyun's face as he threw his body into the music, and he felt himself going red at the implications of this dance. It wasn't a performance for everyone here, it was just for him. And it was him explicitly spelling out all of his feelings in the shapes of his body. 

There was no way to tell how long the dance lasted, time seemed to slow down when Youngkyun watched Taeyang dancing. He had tuned out the cheers and whistles of the other people watching, even the music had faded into the background and he just let his eyes interpret the story being told to him. And it was making his heart ache and his eyes started to get watery. Finally it ended with Taeyang standing right in front of the chair, his skin had a sheen of sweat which sparkled under the sunlight, and his chest heaved with every breath. He had given the dance his every last ounce of energy, and now he was waiting.

Waiting for Youngkyun to realise what it all really meant, waiting for him to say or do something - anything. 

So he did, he stood up and took Taeyang's hands in his. His best friend, his roommate, the one he loved for five years and had been too scared to ever say anything. The ball was in his court now, the other had lain his soul bare for everyone to see and now it was up to him to decide how this was to go. He looked up into the intense eyes which were watching him, and he decided that it was now or never. If Taeyang was willing to show his vulnerability like this, Youngkyun would make sure his message was not up for misinterpretation.

He put one hand on the back of Taeyang's neck and pulled him down towards him, close enough that their breath mingled on one another's lips. The taller of the pair was still panting, but Youngkyun couldn't say for sure if it was just from the dancing anymore. 

"Kyunnie - I have something to tell you."

"I know Tae, and I have to tell you the same thing."

"I love you."

They both said it at the same time, words blending into one finally airing their feelings. It was like a weight had been lifted and suddenly he felt everything in high definition. The light around them was golden, the heat of the sun lighting his skin on fire. Youngkyun could see every little detail on Taeyang's face, and finally the taller closed the gap between their lips.

If the confession had lit up the world, then the kiss made everything explode. Taeyang's lips were soft, like rose petal pillows. They tasted slightly salty, probably from the sweat, but Youngkyun couldn't care less. He pressed himself deeper, using his hand to pull Taeyang impossibly closer by his neck and his other hand rested lightly on his hip. Taeyang wrapped his toned arms around Youngkyun's waist and embraced him tightly as they kissed. It could have lasted a lifetime and they still would have wanted more. But they had to break contact for air. Youngkyun inhaled deeply, the cool air burning his lungs in the best way. Looking up he saw flushed pink cheeks and glittering eyes, and he smiled. Finally, the feelings he had hidden for five years were out in the open, and even better, they were returned. 

***

Not much changed after their confession. Sure there were more kisses and 'I love you's' between them, but other than that everything was the same. It turns out their skinship was already at a couple level. Of course, that's probably why all their friends thought they were dating for so long. It was everything they had ever wished for, comfortable and simple. It was of course attributed to the fact they had been best friends for so long that there was no awkward learnig stage. They already knew each other's favourites and routines, and their friends were of course all in the same group too. 

It really was an easy kind of love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ending has been a long time coming and I hope it's a satisfactory one! I've been so crushed with uni work for the past few months I haven't even been able to think about writing but I can finally get back to it since I'm finished my thesis! Thank you all for reading and sending me love and support, this has been one of the hardest things I've written to date and I hope you enjoyed coming on this journey with me!!


End file.
